Re: [MLUG] good intro to programming for a teenager?

[Stephen Montgomery-Smith <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Mike Miller wrote:
> My son is 13 years old.  He is very interested in computers right now 
> (thanks to those of you who gave us some tips on what to by for gaming - 
> we put together a killer machine, I thought, for $600).  It was a great 
> experience for us to work together assembling the computer and 
> installing software.  He is interested in learning all sorts of things 
> about computers and he just told me that he wants to learn to program.  
> Many of you guys are excellent programmers and would probably have ideas 
> about good ways for a kid to get started.  What do you recommend?  
> (Language? Books? Things to try to program?)
>
> Here are a few more facts:  We installed only Win XP x64 on his 
> computer, but he is interested in Linux, so we'll probably install that 
> later in a dual boot configuration.  I can work with him on programming 
> stuff, but most of it would be by e-mail and phone because he usually 
> sees me every other weekend.
>
> Mike

I know that I shouldn't be admitting to this, but I started my 
programming experience with BASIC.  Its really out of vogue now, but as 
a language to get started with, it really has a very gentle learning 
curve, and yet you can quite quickly produce nice programs.

You don't want to spend too long with this language, because it seems 
that it does encourage bad programming practices.  And I don't know if 
it is available much any more.  But it sure is a nice place to start.

Another language, no longer in vogue, is PASCAL.  This is a highly 
typed/structured language, and up until maybe 10 years ago, was what 
many first semester university courses taught.

Another clunky but relatively easy language is FORTRAN, still used a lot 
by engineers.

I think that C is kind of a hard place to start, because pointers can be 
a tricky concept at first.  Universities often start with teaching with 
C++, but my impression is that students find it really hard.  I have a 
sense that object oriented is not something to start with.

I must admit that I would also like a good language to teach my son when 
he gets a bit older.  Everything that is out there right now that I know 
of just seems that little bit too complicated to start with.  Maybe PHP 
is a good place to start, but I know nothing about it except people say 
it is easy.

Stephen

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